Features and Benefits

For more than a century and a half, the world’s most accomplished pianists have preferred to express their musical genius on Steinway & Sons pianos. The list includes the giants in classical, jazz, and popular music; the men and women who have shaped the world’s musical heritage. Today, more than 98 percent of the world’s active concert pianists choose to perform on Steinway pianos. The joy of playing and owning a Steinway piano, however, is not the exclusive domain of the virtuosi. Rather, it is a world open to all who share a love of music, fine craftsmanship, and enduring quality.

That which distinguishes Steinway pianos, more than all else, is summed up in our dedication to a single ideal: make the finest pianos in the world. It has never entered our minds to compromise quality. Where some have substituted mass-produced, synthetic components to speed production or reduce costs, we apply technologies and new materials only when they provide proven enhancements in the piano. We adhere to these principles for one reason — compromise quality, and you risk the sound, the touch, and ultimately, the integrity of the instrument.

Unlike other manufacturers that mass-produce their uprights, Steinway & Sons uprights are handcrafted in the same factory as our grand pianos, using the same techniques, conditioning processes, and craftsmen. The result is the world’s finest upright, living up to the Steinway & Sons name in every respect. Our upright pianos take advantage of over 125 patented features and processes, including our patented Diaphragmatic® soundboard, Accelerated Action® and Hexagrip® pinblock.

Pinblock
Hexagrip patented design; 7 laminations of quartered hardrock maple stock. Grain symmetrically distributed at successive angles of 45°, 90°, employing grain direction uniformly around the circumference of the tuning pin to provide the ultimate in pin grippage. As a result of this exclusive design, the tuning pin has smoother movement under torque, a more uniform retaining action for solid setting, and a piano which will hold its tuning longer.

Soundboard
Created like the soundboard of violins to give a free and even response throughout the entire scale, it is so constructed as to be 8 mm thick in the center and tapered to 5 mm as it approaches the rim and outer case before being DOUBLE CROWNED. This design permits complete freedom of movement, while acting as a homogenous unit to displace a greater amount of air, thereby creating a richer and more lasting tonal response. Close-grained, quarter-sawn Sitka spruce, a wood having unusual stability and vibrance under stress and vibration, is used exclusively for the soundboard.

Ribs
Made from durable, resinous sugar pine to assure strong and constant support of string down-bearing on the soundboard. Rib ends are hand-fitted into their mounting surfaces virtually locking in the important soundboard crown.

Keybed
Made from planks of stable, quarter-sawn poplar. Horizontal planks are permanently mortised together, while their ends are permanently mortised into vertical planks, presenting a vented system for humidity escapement and necessary expansion and contraction. Hand-milled to be flat and true correlating with keyframe for snug fit. Strong, rugged construction provides a solid mount for keyframe and action allowing for precise and prolonged action regulation. Thickness: 1 3/4" (4.45cm)